August 20, 2012

Ingleside Branch Public Library, San Francisco, CAI learned the hard way that buildings, especially the ones you don't like, don't go away.The good news is, you can bury the incriminating evidence. Before starting my firm in 1986, I worked for and with other architects. And while my name and signature are somewhere on those drawings, drafts and contracts, I've been assured that they are deeply hidden in a storage area of pre-electronic files.One of my very first moonlight projects was with my good friend Kent Macdonald and it was a remodel. The project included a revamped facade. I'd like to think that the project's final appearance was a result of naivete (I was paralyzed by excitement and fear) and some stubborn clients.

Octavia Court, San Francisco, CAIt has an unfortunate composition that includes two different materials that step, something we would never do today. A clumsy balcony hovers overhead. It has been repainted in the ugliest cold color that emphasize the clumsy composition.Luckily, for a period of time, the evidence was located on a sleepy San Francisco street. Unfortunately, a popular store opened half a block away and now my abomination is passed by thousands. Worse yet, by the time I opened my own firm five years later, I was living within walking distance to the project. When your early work is so close to home, on a now desirable street, you have to reconcile yourself to the idea that you'll be seeing the project far too often.

J F R, Carmel, CAThere are some methods of coping:1. Ignore the problem and wear dark sunglasses2. And when it's too overcast, you can move to the other side of the street.3. Or take a very inefficient shortcut.4. Then, in a moment of maturity, you decide you can stand to walk by it buy only when you regard the project with cold-blooded cynicism.5. Or with revelrous wisdom that you are now a better architect.Nowadays, rather than wallowing in the existence of this design...mishap, I use it as a reminder of the kind of architect I have become, rather than the kind of architecture I design.It was in the time during and after this building that I learned to stand firm. And every time I am ready to cave in, to acquiesce modern design, I think of that little building on-well, the location isn't important.

Parkview Terrace, San Francisco, CAThe thing about buildings (other then their interminable lifespan) is that it takes a long time to get good at making them. You have to learn to communicate and compromise with a client without letting them steamroll over good design. You have to learn to utilize your space rather than just plop down your design. Oh and, not all your ideas are good ones.p.s. If you want to know where the building is, send me a $50 bill and a self addresses envelop and I will mail you back the address.

August 6, 2012

Piero Lissoni and his architectural designs, distinguished for minimalist style, high-quality materials, and perfect execution, will be presented as part of the official selection of the 13th Architecture Exhibition at Biennale di Venezia 2012. The exhibitions will open with a press preview August 27-28 and will run until November 25th.

Piero Lissoni is at Palazzo Bembo in the exhibition "Traces of centuries & future steps" with the following project: Maranello Tower.

The project for the city of Maranello makes radical choices with the aim of creating an iconic building with a well-defined geometry. The use of innovative material such a polycarbonate emphasizes the communication function of the building: variously sized cladding panels make up the translucent skin which is interrupted only by windows opening onto the surrounding countryside, while restrained back lighting transforms the building into a luminescent body which at night illuminates the square in front. The quadrangular tower houses the staircase and lift, while the covered panoramic terrace extends perpendicularly along Via Dino Ferrari. This alignment allows visitors to enjoy impressive views which take in the Centro Produttivo Ferrari, the Circuito di Fiorano, the historic centre of Maranello and the distant foothills.

And is at the Giardini della Biennale, inside Padiglione Italia, in the section Made in Italy, with the following projects: the headquarters of Boffi, Living Divani, GlasItalia, and Matteograssi.

DZINE

Elegance. Simplicity. Functionality. DZINE represents a philosophy of design that is truly contemporary – one that encompasses not what is merely new, but what is essential and timeless.

A furniture showroom dedicated to the best of European design, DZINE occupies an airy 15,000 sq. ft. in the San Francisco design district. Whitewashed walls and bare concrete floors create a neutral backdrop. The effect is minimal, yet inviting. It is a space that places emphasis on the line, proportion and detail of the furniture itself, reflecting the respect for the integrity of each design and its creator.